The present invention relates to a reinforcement device, especially for use in machines for laminating wheel rims of automotive vehicles.
Usually, machines for laminating wheel rims of the simple-support type do not have any kind of reinforcement mechanism to aid in performing their function. While performing the lamination operations, the two axles of the machine that approach each other to form the piece mechanically undergo a flexion due to their length and to the force applied to carry out the lamination. When laminating wheel rims that have measures of up to 40.6 cm (16xe2x80x3) in diameter and that are constituted by low-resistance materials, the flexion effort to which the axles of the machine are subjected are within the parameters foreseen in project, and they have coherent useful life.
However, with the need for manufacturing wheel rims of up to 50.8 cm (20xe2x80x3) in diameter and made of considerably more resistant materials, it became necessary to apply considerably greater conformation efforts, which caused a load on the axles of the machines heavier than that determined by the manufacturer as the maximum admissible load. As a result, the useful life of the axles and their adjacent components, such as rollers and hydraulic pressure lines was substantially shortened. What is worse, it was not possible to foresee when a break would occur, which constantly leads to non-programmed stoppages of the machine for repair and consequent delays in the production line and damages.
The present invention is a reinforcement device that can be used in usual laminating machines existing in factories, making possible the manufacture of larger and more resistant wheel rims, with good quality and low cost, without potentially destructive overloads on the machine. Since the device of the present invention prevents flexion of the laminating axles, the rim can be mechanically conformed with lesser deformation load, which avoids overload on the hydraulic system of the machine, which generates this force, and also spares the axles and other adjacent components such as rollers, which are subjected to loads for which they were designed, without excess. In addition, breaks are prevented, which constantly lead to non-programmed stoppages of the machine for repair and consequent delay in the production line and damages. Also, the device brings about greater uniformity between the successive lots of rims produced, besides reducing dimensional tolerances of each piece, which results in better quality and more satisfaction of the clients.
The present invention describes a reinforcement device, especially a reinforcement device that can be used in a machine for laminating wheel rims for automotive vehicles, the machine comprising at least two substantially parallel rim-lamination axles, the reinforcement device comprising a body associated to the housing of the lamination machine, the positioning of the body varying with respect to the housing, the body being provided with two bearings supportable on respective end regions of the axles, so that the axles are substantially maintained parallel during the operation of laminating the rim, at least one bearing being moveable with respect to the reinforcement device by a moving means.
In a first preferred embodiment of the invention, the body is substantially C-shaped, having two bearings moveable axially with respect to the body and in a synchronized way, in opposite directions, by respective first and second moving means.
In a second preferred embodiment of the invention, the body comprises two substantially parallel bars, which are joined, at respective first ends, to a reinforcement element and at their second ends, to a first bearing, the body being moveable by a fifth moving means in the direction of the length of the body. The second bearing is fixed with respect to the reinforcement device.